Summary
The US Department of Transportation fined JetBlue $2 million for operating “chronically delayed flights,” marking the first penalty of its kind.
The DOT found four routes repeatedly delayed for at least five consecutive months between June 2022 and November 2023, despite prior warnings.
JetBlue cited investments in reducing delays, which improved performance in 2024, but faced setbacks like abandoned routes and customer dissatisfaction.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warned airlines to align schedules with reality, emphasizing the need for reliable travel for passengers.
Why would they intentionally delay flights?
Off the top of my head I’d say:
They overbook more flights than they can actually handle knowing that there will be delays for the tickets they sell so that they can sell more.
He means they would save more than $2 million by keeping the system the way it is.
More due to negligence than by design.
They probably leave very narrow error margins in order to maximise profits by maximising the number of flights they can handle.
2m sounds like pocket change for a company of this size.
But they aren’t handling it. That’s the problem.
They don’t, exactly, but if they understaff and operate with no wiggle room in their schedules, any small problems rapidly become large problems.